The Authors @Alden event series brings faculty, alumni, and other writers to Alden Library to discuss their latest books and other writing projects. The events are free to the public and are often available via live stream.
Authors@Alden conversation with OHIO alum and author E.M. Tran, Associate Professor of English Patrick O’Keefe, and local author Madeline ffitch.
Notable photographer and alumnus Adger Cowans in conversation with Julie Dummermuth.
On Nov. 8, 2018, the first Authors @Alden event of the academic year featured British author, critic and poet John Greening, editor of a new edition of Edmund Blunden’s World War One (WWI) memoir, “Undertones of War.” Greening discussed Blunden and the poetry of WWI in a conversation with Nicole Reynolds, associate professor of English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and one of the organizers of the event. (Graphic design by Herbert Frimpong/Ohio University Libraries)
On April 16, 2018, Nigerian author Chuma Nwokolo discussed his new book, “The Extinction of Menai,” at an Authors @Alden event hosted by the Ohio University Libraries.
Nwokolo’s book tells the story of fictional Nigerian twins Humphrey and Zanda, descendants of an ethnic group subjected to a deadly pharmaceutical trial. The twins, two survivors in their group who were separated at birth, came to know life on two continents. Humphrey, living in London, grew to be a writer, while Zanda grew to be a journalist in Abuja, Nigeria. The book covers themes of public health crisis and loss of cultural identity, and does so in a beautifully evocative way. (Graphic design by Chance Brinkman-Sull/Ohio University Libraries)
On Sept. 19, 2017, Stacey Lavender and Karmen Beecroft, digital projects librarians at Alden Library, explored the culture of letter writing from home and at the front lines with the Libraries’ collection of newly digitized Civil War-era letters as a part of the Authors @Alden series.
Those letters record the home lives, beliefs and political views of their authors, many of whom were young soldiers in the war. The digital archive currently contains hundreds of letters and other documents from these collections: Brown Family Collection, Joseph Aplin Martin Collection, William McDonald Collection, Josiah L. Brown Papers and Kinney Family Papers. (Graphic design by Chance Brinkman-Sull/Ohio University Libraries)
On July 11, 2017, Stacey Lavender and Karmen Beecroft, digital projects librarians at Alden Library, explored letter writing from home and at war, in particular the Civil War, in this interactive presentation held as a part of the Authors @Alden series.
Lavender and Beecroft tailored activities to spark interest in primary source research. Visitors were invited to interpret correspondence and to create their own letters using the same kinds of fountain pens, sealing wax, and elaborate letterheads as the early Civil War soldiers and pioneer homesteaders. (Graphic design by Cathy Sitko/Ohio University Libraries)
On June 15, 2017, photographers Ian Adams and Randall Schieber discussed their recent collaborative publication, “Ohio in Photographs: A Portrait of the Buckeye State,” as a part of the Authors @Alden Summer Series.
The book documents urban landmarks and rural landscapes across the state, capturing at least one image from each of Ohio’s 88 counties. Evan Shaw, WOUB producer, interviewed the photographers about location scouting, Ohio history, and how both hard work, and luck, are the necessary elements to make good photos. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On March 30, 2017, OHIO alumnus and renowned photographer Thomas E. Schiff sat down to talk with Miriam Intrator, special collections librarian in Alden Library, as a part of the Authors @Alden series to discuss his new book, “The Library Book.” The publication, which documents the evolution of the American library architecture from the earliest to the present-day modernist style, features beautiful 360-degree panoramic photographs of 100 libraries in the United States. Schiff, who lives in Cincinnati, is the founder of FotoFocus. (Graphic design by John Michael Simpson/Ohio University Libraries)
On September 27, 2016, author Kyle Kondik, a graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism (2006) and former editor of The Post, was joined by Thomas Suddes, adjunct assistant professor in the School of Journalism, in the Authors @Alden series to discuss his book, “The Bellwether: Why Ohio Picks the President.” According to Kondik, the state of Ohio serves as a microcosm of the nation as a whole in the battle to win swing states for the 2016 election of the president of the United States. (Graphic design by John Michael Simpson/Ohio University Libraries)
On July 12, 2016, Author and illustrator Robert Gipe visited Alden Library to discuss his premier novel, “Trampoline.” In the novel, Gipe writes about Dawn Jewell, a 15-year old resident of rural Kentucky who witnesses her grandmother’s protest of strip mines and her mother’s struggle with drug addiction. The conversation was led by Rachel Terman, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, who asked Gipe about his experiences as a community playwright, a teacher and a participant of writing workshops. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On June 16, 2016, OHIO alumna Sharon Hatfield, an award-winning reporter, editor and author, discussed “Never Seen the Moon: The Trials of Edith Maxwell.” The book is a true-crime story documenting a daughter’s murderous retaliation for her father’s abuse and her ensuing journey through the American legal system in 1935.
Hatfield, an alumna of Ohio University who has a special interest in Appalachian history and nonfiction, was interviewed by Kelee Riesbeck, WOUB radio host and editor of Ohio Today. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On May 19, 2016, Ohio University Libraries hosted the latest installment of the Authors @Alden series featuring Hwa-Wei Lee, dean emeritus of Ohio University Libraries, and interviewer Charles J. Ping, president emeritus of Ohio University, for a conversation about Lee’s life and journey as an international Chinese American librarian.
The event, which is being held in honor of the release of Lee’s biography, “The Sage in the Cathedral of Books” written by Yang Yang and translated by Ying Zhang, covers Lee’s personal story and professional achievements improving the state of libraries internationally. (Graphic design by John Michael Simpson/Ohio University Libraries)
On April 12, 2016, Ohio University Libraries hosted the Authors @Alden series featuring Ronald Calinger, alumnus (1963) and professor emeritus of history at the Catholic University of America who talked about the life, work and contributions of Swiss-born mathematician, physicist and theoretical astronomer Leonhard Euler (1707-1783), which inspired his latest book, “Leonhard Euler: Mathematical Genius in the Enlightenment.” Calinger was interviewed by Bob Klein, associate professor of mathematics and mathematics education. (Graphic design by John Michael Simpson/Ohio University Libraries)
On February 2, 2016, OHIO alumnus Stanley Plumly, Maryland’s award-winning poet laureate and distinguished university professor at the University of Maryland, read from his latest work titled, “The Immortal Evening: A Legendary Dinner with Keats, Wordsworth, and Lamb.” In his work, Plumly brought to life a historical night in December 1817, when painter Benjamin Robert Haydon hosted Keats, Wordsworth and Lamb for a discussion of contemporary art, poetry and science. Plumly discussed his own life, work, and inspiration in a conversation with Jill Allyn Rosser, professor of English. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On November 19, 2015, Ohio University Libraries welcomed OHIO alumna Weimin Zhang, an award-winning filmmaker and associate professor at San Francisco State University (SFSU) School of Cinema, for a showing of her film “Hutong Days,” a short documentary that uses the observations and personal experiences of Zhang who grew up in a hutong, a narrow lane or alleyway in a traditional residential area of a Chinese city. The film explores the impact of the modernization of China and its effect on the lives of Beijing’s hutong residents, who are still facing economic hardships as a result of their displacement. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On October 23, 2015, Ohio University Libraries welcomed Martin King, a military historian and an authority on the Battle of the Bulge, as part of the Authors @Alden Series. Produced by Emmy award-winning producer and director Mike Edwards, the documentary shares the story of Augusta Chiwy, a World War II civilian nurse who volunteered at the U.S. Army’s medical aid station during the Siege of Bastogne. (Graphic design by Tyler Stabile/Ohio University Libraries)
On Feb. 26, 2015, “The Forgotten Angel of Bastogne,” a documentary film about Augusta Chiwy, a World War II nurse who volunteered at the U.S. Army’s medical aid station during the Siege of Bastogne, was presented on the fourth floor of Alden Library. The film screening was followed by a discussion with Emmy award winning film producer and director Mike Edwards. Co-produced with Jim Edwards, the film was screened in Bastogne, Belgium in April 2014 and has been praised by many including Brian Dick, assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Belgium. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On April 3, 2014, the Libraries hosted Samuel Crowl in another installment of its Authors @Alden series. Crowl, a Ping Institute founding fellow and trustee professor of English literature, discussed his latest book, “Screen Adaptations: Shakespeare’s Hamlet: The Relationship between Text and Film,” with the lorraine wochna, the Libraries’ instruction coordinator.
Crowl is the author of “Shakespeare Observed: Studies in Performance on Stage and Screen” and numerous essays, articles, reviews and interviews about Shakespeare. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On Dec. 5, 2013, Ohio University Libraries hosted Charles J. Ping, president emeritus of Ohio University, in the next edition of the Authors @Alden series. Ping discussed his recently published memoir, “A Conversation about Ohio University and the Presidency,1975-1994,” transcribed from a series of recorded videotaped interviews with Samuel Crowl, current trustee professor emeritus and former dean of University College, and Doug McCabe, Ohio University Libraries’ curator of manuscripts.
Ping served as Ohio University President for 19 years, making his presidency the longest in University history. McCabe facilitated the event and discussed highlights from the book that documents Ping’s leadership that transformed OHIO into the University we know today. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On October 20, 2013, Kevin Haworth, assistant professor of English, discussed his personal approach to creative writing and how he uses the libraries’ resources to develop and inspire his work.
His most recent book,“Famous Drownings in Literary History,” is a compilation of powerful short stories on modern Jewish American life. Haworth is also the author of “The Discontinuity of Small Things,” a story of the Holocaust set in Denmark in the summer of 1943. It was awarded the Samuel Goldberg Prize for best Jewish fiction by a writer under 40, and runner up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On September 28, 2013 as part of the Authors @Alden series, OHIO Libraries hosted a conversation with Carl H. Walker. The topic of discussion was his book, “Soulful Bobcats: Experiences of African American Students at Ohio University during the 1950s,” a collection of African-American alumni’s accounts of campus life in the era between segregation and the civil rights movement.
Walker, an OHIO alumnus and former professor of criminal justice at Clark Atlanta University, organized a group called Soulful Bobcats to preserve bonds forged in the 1950s and 1960s. (Graphic design by Tyler Stabile/Ohio University Libraries)
On April 16, 2013, local author Katherine Ziff discussed her research and her book, “Asylum on the Hill: History of a Healing Landscape.” Much of Ziff’s extensive research on the Athens Lunatic Asylum was done through the asylum archives at the Mahn Center at Alden Library.
Published in 2012, the book is considered one of the most detailed accounts on the history and revolutionary practices in psychiatry and patient care that took place at the Athens Lunatic Asylum. (Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)
On October 6, 2011, University Libraries in association with University Press hosted the first event in a series called Authors @Alden. This event featured Andrew Welsh-Huggins, a legal affairs reporter with the Associated Press and author of the new book “Hatred at Home: al-Qaida on Trial in the American Midwest.” The book, published by Ohio University’s Swallow Press, is a true crime drama that is sparking debate from all political corners about safety, civil liberties, free speech and the government’s war at home.(Graphic design by Ohio University Libraries)